Strength of Will
by Tama Saga
Summary: Who let the fox out of the bag? Not Naruto.  Kyuubi no Youko can be a tricky creature, it's a good thing that Naruto is there to save the day.  Oneshot.


_Don't you know? Foxes are crafty._

-o-o-o-o-o-

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm just borrowing the characters to tell a story.

-o-o-o-o-o-

_He laid down to take a nap one day._

_And then he found himself within the sewers of his mind. Since his life wasn't in any danger or anything, it seemed like he was going to be here a long time, so says the giant furball. _

-o-o-o-o-o-

**Strength of Will  
**by Tama Saga

-o-o-o-o-o-

Although Naruto rarely entered the sewer that was in his mind, whenever he met up with the Kyuubi, the conflicts often became legendary. It's too bad no one believed him once he returned to the real world. I mean, a fox who killed hundreds of nin and one Hokage during its rampage...versus a newly-promoted Chuunin? Who would win?

After Kyuubi's customary attempt to break his spirit, the two had nothing to do. And loitering around was boring. So Naruto opened his mouth and talked.

After what seemed like hours, the giant demon finally stopped ignoring him.

"**Fool, do you even know the basics of a woman's anatomy?"** it rumbled, annoyed by Naruto's boasts about the wonders of one of his Jutsu.

Naruto stopped before an indignant look appeared on his face. "What?! Of course I do!"

"**A false claim," **the fox spat.

"How would you know!" the boy challenged. And then, to his surprise, the giant fox began to shrink.

When the shrinking stopped, Naruto could only stare dumbly at the figure sitting in the center of the cage for several minutes.

Kyuubi no Youko's patience finally came to an end. "Well?" she asked, her voice sweet but backed by a hint of bone-chilling menace.

"Umm..." Naruto started to rub the back of his his head. "You're...

"...what do you think?!" the red-haired woman in front of him roared in a very unfeminine manner.

Naruto leapt back in terror.

clang!

Seeing how she couldn't break out of the cage, he relaxed slightly. "Uhh...well, jeez, this changes things." he commented before he turned away and stared at the floor to think about what he had just witnessed.

"Will you remove the seal now," she impatiently asked.

"Huh?" Naruto absentmindedly sounded, before turned back around and walked forward. He grabbed one end of the seal, "Yeah, sure."

He pulled.

And then the woman started laughing like a harpy, startling the blond boy from his thoughts. He gazed in horror at the flimsy piece of paper in his hand.

"Foolish monkey," the woman smugly growled as her body started to distort. "You shall be my first kill now that I am free."

Naruto gaped for one long moment...

...and the fox let him, relishing in the sweetness of this betrayal.

That was when the blond in the orange jumpsuit suddenly jumped forward and slugged the bastard.

After all, Kyuubi had taken on the form of Sasuke.

"Teme!"

-o-o-o-o-o-

**- Slam! -**

That was the sound of a rusty iron door slamming shut trapping something within a cage. Sometime during the epic battle that followed, Kyuubi had reverted to its natural form, albeit smaller, and Naruto had somehow herded it back into the cage.

After slapping the seal back into place, Naruto just stood outside and glared in.

"You might have won this time brat," the wounded fox hissed before it retreated to a corner to sulk.

That was when Naruto realized that he had beaten up the Kyuubi and lived to tell about it...a large grin filled his face. "Haha! I did it, I beat the fox! Wait till everyone hears this!"

As Naruto started to disappear, the fox couldn't resist one parting dig to assuage its pride. "Who's going to believe you?"

-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N:

I give you two possible explanations for Naruto's victory.  
1. When he's really mad, he takes Kyuubi's chakra. Because this is in the mind, there is no human limits, so he can keep taking while Kyuubi keeps weakening.  
2. Because this is in the mind, there are no chakra pathways in Naruto's nor Kyuubi's spirits. As such, the battlefield isn't a war of chakra but a war of wills and imagination.

-o-o-o-o-o-


End file.
